Packaging apparatus



June l5, 1937. l.. L. sALFlsBx-:RG

PACKAGING APPARATUS Original Filed Oct. 15, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet l Hlmmm`lune 15, 1937. L. SALFISBERG PACKAGING APPARATUS 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Original Filed Oct. l5

I VENTOR. L 5 alii 5h E1' Lern ATTORNEY.

June 15, 1937. L. sALFlsBERG 2,083,613

' PACKAGING APPARATUS Original Filed Oct. 15, 1935 .'5 Sheets-Sheet 3Ii- A I NVENTOR.

LEIUH L.- alfishr ATTORNEY.

Patented June 15, 1937 PATENT OFFICE e v PACKAGING APPARATUS Leroy L.Salislierg,` South Orange, N. J., aslignor to Ivers-Lee Company, Newarkration of Delaware Application 14 Claims.

This invention pertains in general to packaging equipment andspecifically relates to a form ci automatic packaging machine..A

lOne of the objects of the invention isto provide a constructionofpackaging machine for eiecting a continuous and rapid process in theproduction of packages.

Another object ofv the invention consists in producing a machineorganization.- for effecting the m rapid and continuous conveyance ofcommodity articles of unusual character, form and size, from a feedingsource to packaging rollers.

Another object of the invention comprises pro, viding a machineorganization for the fabrication of packages having individual commoditycontaining enclosures for packaged commodities.

A further object of the invention comprises providinga construction of apackaging machine employing a plurality of sources of packaging materialutilized in a continuous packaging operation for producing packages of anovel character.

These and other objects reside in a construction of packaging machineand a method of manufacture as will be readily apparent from thefollowing description in conjunction with the appended drawings in whichlike reference numerals designate corresponding parts and in which:

Fig. 1 is a. plan view of one embodiment of a packaging machine inaccordance with the invcntion;

Fig. 1A is a plan view of an alternative form of the construction shownin Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 is a vertical and longitudinal sectional view taken centrally ofthe representation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view taken along the line 3-3 ofFig. l, showing an arrangement of power driven` units o f a link chaindrive utilized in the invention.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the composite heating, crimping andsealing equipment employed in the invention.

Fig. 5 is a view of a typical package which may be fabricated inaccordance with the invention.

This invention contemplates the use of a plurality of feeder rolls ofpackaging material which are positioned for feeding toward centrallypositioned sealing and crimping equipment associated with afeedingmechanism in the form of a link chain drive which permits a continuousand rapid manufacturing process inthe fabrication of packages of thetype indicated. The link chain ydrive feeding mechanism of thisinvention facilitates the feeding to the packaging rollersoi commodityarticles, composed of rubber or like materials N. J., a corpo- October15, 1935,` Serial N0. V45,033

Renewed May "I, 1937 which are unusually ilexlble and difllcult tohandle by ordinary means, as well as articles which may come in variousindefinite and indeterminate shapes.

This feeding mechanism cooperates with the sealing and crimping rollerequipment to properly position commodity articles between opposed layersof packaging material at spaced intervals while the sealing equipmentcrimps the packagingmaterials together at areas other than thoseoccupied by the package, at the same time heating these areas in anoxidation process to form. by rapid production methods, a novel form ofpackage.

Referring to the drawings in detail and particularly to Fig. 1, thereisprovided a general mounting structure I, upon which there is secured atable plate 2. 0n the top of this plate 2 and movable along its surface,there is provided a link chain mechanism for conveying the commodityarticles to the packaging equipment. This link chain mechanism consistsof two parallel units similar to each other in construction. These unitsinclude endless'link chain systems I1 and Ila, moving in the samedirection around the radii of sprockets 3, l, 3a, and 4a. To thealternate links of each chain there are 'attached conveyingelements i8and Isa, provided with circular recesses which act to enclose commodityarticles I9. In moving along the top plate 2, the inner recesses of theconveying elements come into mutual engagement and form circularenclosures into which the commodity articles may be placed by operatorsstationed on opposite sides of the table. As the link chain mechanismsmove toward the packaging equipment, there are always a multiplicity ofthe conveyor elements of the oppositely facing link mechanisms inengagement to form article receiving and conveying units.

A package 'forming cellulose strip 59 is fed through a slot opening 2ain the plate 2, and extends lengthwise along the top of the plate 2,between the opposed sides of the link chain mechanism. When a commodityarticle is deposited in a circular enclosure formed by the engagement ofconveying elements I8 and I8a to form article retaining and propellingunits, the commodity article is iny constant contact with the packagingstrip 59 as it moves toward the package forming equipment.

Although the enclosures formed by opposing conveying elements i8 andIllaL are circular in the present instance, they may be of any desiredform'or shape. Ihe commodity articles represented inthe 'drawings arerubber teething rings, but various other corresponding commodities maybe similarly packaged. The system of the invention is particularly welladapiedfor receiving and s unveiling articles which are flexible andotherwise diillcult lto handle, as well as artlcles'which .may come in-various indefinite shapes. In some. instances. it'may be desirable toemploy a form of automatic feeding in place of hand feeding by op-` llilerators positioned on opposite sides of the machine. In such anarrangement as shown in Pig. 2, a chute Il may be provided centrallydisposed along the plate 2. The articles such as the teething ringsdisposed within the chute l are perl mitted to fall within the recessesformed by the elements Il and Ila as they pass underneath.

y Since the elements Il and I la otherwise. present a substantially fiatsurface; the commodities are retained within the chute` while theelements pass -therebeneath. except when one ofthe circular openingslformed by coincidence of two of the' finger elements comes intoalignment with the chute, whereupon one ofjthe articles isper- 5 mittedto drop therein.

2l and 22a are provided extending' over the link mechanism to shield themoving parts of the link chains from the' operators. The plates coverall of the mechanism except the conveying elements as they come intoengagement with-each other from the oppositely disposed link mechanisms.

In Pig. l thereare provided four sprockets 2, I, 2a, and 4a disposed atthe four corners of the top plate 2. The' teeth of the sprockets engagethe links of the link chain mechanismsv I 'land Ila so as to rotate thetwo units -of the mechanism in timed relationship, in the samedirection, causing the conveying elements on thelinks to come intomutual engagement and their inner recesses to form circular enclosuresto propel the commodity .articles toward thepackaging andcrimpingequipment.

The-sprockets 2, I, la, and laare mounted 4on spindles l, l, Ia, and sa.spindles i and 'lare is iournaled in bearings "I4 and 'II (Fig.v 3),-and spindle la isy iournaledin similar bearings, not shown. The spindlesI and 6 are 'provided with 60 gears 'I and I, these gears being actuatedby` worms s and Il which are in turn mounted on the driving shaft I2(Fig. 2 and Fig. 3). A similar arrangement of driving gears la and aobtains for spindles 5a and Oa, with similar worm gears 9a 55 and Ilamounted on' drivingshaft. I2a. 'I'here are 'also mounted on drive shaftsI2 and I2a,v

driven gears ll-and Ilq.(Figs. 2 and 3) whichengage with drivinglgearsmounted on a motor driven transverse shaft Il (Figs. 2 and 3). This e0motor-driven shaft lifacts' through the gears- I5 and I la to causetheshafts I2 and I2a to rotate,

which in turn actuatenthe. sprocket spindles through the worm sears.,thusvcausing the two lines of chain mechanism to move along the 65 plate2.a'

` As shown in- Figs. 1.and2, the shaft 29-is an extension of shaft I2,and is journaled in bearingv Il. 'Ihis shaft has mounted upon it a worm24 (Figs. 1 and 2), which engages gear 25 mounted journaled in bearings,not shown. These shafts,

75 22 and 22a with the gears 26 and 26a cause the ro- As may be seeninliigs. 1 and 3, cover platesy tation of packaging and crimping rollers2l and 2|a earried'thereby (Pig. 2). j

Referring again to Fig. 2. there is provided,'on the general mountingstructure l. two reel spindies Il and N. Onlitioned on opposite sidesthereof. ,Mounted upon these reel spindles are reels Il and il.respectively'. 'Ihese reels are provided with central cores upon whichrolls of packaging material l1 and l2 are respectively stowed for'rotatable feeding purposes. The packaging material so provided ispreferably of transparent strip or ribbon formation and is of acomposition such as transparent regenerated cellulose with a heattreatment coating thereon, although other suitable material may beemployed. Extending from the rolls I'I and lIl are leader strips l! andII, respectively. Ihese leader strips feed into the-heating and sealingequipment described later in detail.

Upon portions of the mounting structure I there is provided a pressuremember Il in the form of a bar pivotally mounted so as to engage inperipheral contact with the roll Il, to maintain the proper tension onthe leader. strip and avoid uncoiling of the roll of packaging'material. 'I'his member Il is provided with a longitudinal slot, notshown. within which a hand adjustable weight member Il may be adjustablypositioned. Thisweight member when adjusted back and forth in its slotregulates the pressure applied to the roll B1, to maintain the propertension for clitlerent types of material. l-A similar arrangement isprovided for roll Il.

The leader strips I! and Il extend centrally of the mounting structurein directions toward each otherV and pass over idler rolls l2 and I3,leader strip It passing up. through a slot 2a and along the top of plate2 and then in conjunction with 'strip UI passing to the package formingand sealing equipment, the strips acting to enclose andhold thevcommodity articles Il before passing'into'the packaging equipment. -Itis a feature of the invention that the strip 6| engages n iwithfthevarticles I9 while'they are held by the journaled in`bearings 1I, 'llandl2, 13, respecv tively, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. Spindle Iafmutual'enga'gement of members i8, the strip 6I ,f acting. ttf-hold thearticles I9. in their proper Yspaced relationship after thel members I Ihave left the' linear path of movement of the strip 59 .and have begunto rotate about the sprockets 4 functions in their action and will nowbe considered more in detail.

Each -ofthe rollers 2| and 2id is provided with one annular row ofperipheral recesses 2l, and in the. present representation, lthere arefour relcesses in the row whereby each roller is provided with fourrecesses in all. It will be understood, of course, that the number'ofrecesses and rows of may be varied to` meet various pack- .seinsrequirements.

Referring to Fig. 2, the rollers 2| and 2Ia areprovided witha pluralityof stripper fingers 2B and 28a which are secured to aboss lll' on thegeneral mounting-structure I. These stripper fingers are pomtioned inannular slots in the rollers 2lA and 2Ia so asto occupy positions behindthe recesses 2l at the point of intersection of the rollers 2| and 2|a.The Purpose of these stripper ngers 22 and 28a is to guide the leaderstrips 59 and 6| into and out of the rollers 2| and 2Ia and particularlyto avoid any tendency of the packaging material to wrap around therollers. In the area surrounding the recesses 2l on the rollers 2| and2|a'there is provided crossfaces ofthe rollers 2| and.2|a arecomplementary to each other and mesh with one another to produce aninterdigitation of the opposed layers vof 5 packaging material fed tothe rollers. However, the crimping area surrounding the recesses 21 isinterrupted at spaced intervals and also provided with complementarycutting elements 4 3, (Fig. 1) which will bebetter understood inconnection with the description of the product formed by the machine, aswill, be hereinafter pointed out.

The rollers 2| and 2|a are secured upon the shafts 22 and 22a which arerotatably mounted through bearings in the boss 4l. -Referring to Flg. 4,it will be seen that the shaft 22 is hollow for a portion of its lengtheoextensive with the roller 2|. In this hollow portion a heatercartridge 41 is provided which includes a resistance element for heatingthe roller 2| to a temperature suilicient to cause oxldization and aphysiochemical change in the regenerated cellulose packagingmaterial'when in contact therewith. At the outer extremity of the shaft22 an insulating element 4l is provided with collector rings 25 whichconnect with opposite terminals of the heater cartridge 41. Thecollectorrings on the element 48 are engaged by contact brushes re'- spectivelycarried by a terminal mounting 43 secured to the boss 4l by mountingelement 5|. The terminal mounting 49 is provided with suitable leads sothat electrical energy may be supplied in the proper amount to theheater element internal of the miler 2|. The roller 2|a is provided witha similar heating arrangement. The complementary rotation of the rollers2l and 2Ia is effected through the gears 28 and 23a, respectively, asshown in dotted line in Fig. 2. These two-gears 2 6 and 23a engage eachother so as to cause the rotation of the rollers 2| and 2Ia in timedrelationship with respect to other moving parts of the packaging machineand with respect to each other in a manner'such that the recesses 21coincide with each other as the rollers 2| and 2Ia are rotated inopposite directions. The crimping surfaces of the rollers 2| and 2|athen mesh with each other in a complementary fashion to cause a forcedinterdigitation of the layers of packaging material fed therebetween.

After passing through the crimping rollers 2| and 2|a, the packagedcommodity units, separated from the rollers by the .stripping fingers 28and 28a, follow through a prolongation ofv the stripping lingers intothe cutting knife aperture 6I), Fig. 2, where the packaged commodity iscut into units of predetermined lengths.

The arrangement of this cutting knife is shown in Figs. l and 2." Thereare provided two stationary cutting members 29 and 29a, rigidly fixed tothe boss 40 and upon opposite sides of the course 50 taken by thepackage structure as it emerges from betweenthe rollers 2| and 2|a.Beneath the two stationary members 29 and 29a and in abuttingrelationship thereto, there is provided a movable knife member 3|,mounted upon a shaft 43 rotatably positioned in bearing 44. The bearing44 is secured to a wall of the general mounting structure I. A coilspring 45 is provided on the shaft 43 between the bearing 44 and knifemember 3| for urging the latter into a "'0 predetermined position.v Atthe upper end of shaft 43 a lever 69 is attached. 'I'his lever has a.projecting end 33, provided with a follower element 34. The follower 34engages in a groove 35 in a type of cylinder cam 36. The cam 36 in 75Fig. l is mounted upon a shaft 31 extending into suitable bearings 3land 33a in the walls of the general mounting structure I. This shaft hasmounted upon it a gear 42 which is driven by a worm 4|, secured upon theextension shaft 33. The cam 3l and groove 35 therein, together with thedriving gears therefor, are so constructed that a reciprocative motionistransmitted through .the lever 33 to the movable knife member 3|. 'Ihisreciprocative motion produces a quick shearing effect between the knifemember 3| and the cutting members 23 and 29a. This reciprocativeshearing eect severs the finished package structure into compositeunits. The units may be of any desired` length depending on the adjustedtiming of the knife 3|. As the package units are severed by the knifeaction they may fall into a suitable hopper or conveyor provided forthepurpose.

Fig. 1A represents an alternative embodiment of the structure of Fig. 1in which several articles may be simultaneously fed to the packaglngequipment. In thisinstance, the packaging lequipment is in the formof apair of rollers 'cal spacing bar |20 extending from the structure 2centrally along the strip 53. This bar |20 acts as a separation for thearticles IIS and I |9a deposited on the strip 59 upon opposite sides ofthe bar. 'I'he articles IIS and II9a are thus propelled in two parallellines to the recesses |21 of the crimping and hting rollers. By thisarrangement it is possible to produce plural packages. It will beunderstood that such an arrangement may be further modified to includevarious other forms of mechanisms for feeding articles into equipmentfor forming plural unit packages.

More detailed consideration will now be given to the package structureitself as produced by the packagfng organization. Referring to. Fig. 5,

it will be see'n that the packaged articles I9 are4 disposed in alongitudinal row between two layers of regenerated cellulose. Thiscellulose material has been interdigitated by the complementary crimpingsurfaces of the rollers 2| and 2|a in areas surrounding each of thearticles I9. t will be noted that the crimped area surrounding eacharticle is in the form of a. square and that the squares for the variousarticles are interrupted by a separation line A extending transverselyof the packaging material. This separation line divides the articles andthe accompanying packaging material into individual package` At the edgeof the separation lines A;

'commodity containing units.

The perforations 66 of the package structure are effected in thepackaging material as they pass between the rollers 2| and 2|a due to acutting action of these rollers, brought about by 5 perforations II asthe package material passes between the rollers. It will be seentherefore that the rollers 2l and Ila simultaneously perform a multitudeof operations consisting of the feeding of the packaging material, thepositioning of the commodity articles between opposed layers of thematerial, the interdigitation of the layers under pressure in areassurrounding the commodity articles, and the heating of these areaswithin a range to produce oxidization and physio-chemical change ofsuchareas to assume an embrittled charactersusceptible to easy tearingfor promoting facile removal of the commodity articles from thepackaging material. 'I'he package thus produced utilizes the normaltough and wiry nature of the regenerated cellulose for articlecontaining envelope areas, while the seal or bond areas surrounding thesame are of an embrittled nature for gaining easy access to the envelopeenclosure areas. 'Ihe machine in its entirety is operable for producingthe continuous and rapid fabrication of package units each containingindividual commodity articles maintained in sealed and segregated spacedrelationship.

Although a preferred form of .packaging apparatus has been disclosed, itwill be apparent that various modifications and equivalent structurescan be produced without departing from the intended scope of theinvention. Therefore, I do not desire to linut myself to the foregoingexcept as may be pointed out in the appended claims. v

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A packaging apparatus comprising, a pair of mechanicallycomplementary rollers having alternately disposed'crimplng surfaces `andrecesses, means for feeding a strip layer of packaging material to saidrollers in an lextended path having predetermined cross-sectionalformation,

commodity article conveying means for conveying commodity articlesadjacent said layer of packaging material in a spacing arrangement suchas to cause said commodity articles to coincide with said recesses insaid rollers when rotated, and means for feeding another layer ofmaterial adjacent said articles on said ilrst mentioned layer ofmaterial and between said rollers to produce article package formations.

2. A packaging. apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which saidarticle conveying means includes a plurality of article spacing elementsand means for moving said spacing elements iuA synchronism with thefmovement of said first mentioned layer of material whereby said articlesare moved towards said rollers in engagement with both said spacingelements and said layer ofv 5. A packaging apparatus in accordance withclaim 1 in which said article feeding means comprises an endless chainmechanism having commodity spacing means mounted thereon.

6. A packaging apparatus in accordance with claim l in which saidarticle conveying means comprises a pair of endless conveyors positionedupon opposite sides of the path of said first mentioned layer ofmaterial and adjacent one surface thereof, said conveyors being providedwith mutually disposed elements engageable in the area of said path forforming article receiving receptacles in proximity to said layer ofmaterial to propel said articles in contact with said layer toward saidcrimping rollers.

7. A packaging apparatus in accordance with claim 1 including a plateover which said first mentioned layer of material is fed, in stripformation, toward said rollers, said article conveying means comprisinga pair of endless link chains disposed for movement in a rectilinearpath adjacent the upper surface of said strip and upon opposite edges ofsaid strip, article receiving elements mounted upon links of saidchains, the article receiving elements of said two chain mechanismsbeing mutually engageable in pairs to form commodity spacing receptacleson the surface of said strip of packaging material, and means for movingsaid strip of material and said mutually engaged article receivingelements in synchronlsm toward said rollers.

8. A packaging apparatus comprising, package forming equipment, meansfor conveying an exposed surface of packaging material toward saidpackaging equipment, and means for engaging a plurality of commodityarticles in spaced relationship on the surface of said layer of materialand at the same time propelling said articles toward said packagingequipment.

, 9. A packaging apparatus comprising, package forming equipment, meansfor feeding a layer of packaging material to said packaging equipment,conveyor means for propelling commodities along said layer concomitantlywith the movement thereof, and means for feeding another layer ofmaterial to engage said commodities in said conveyor to transfer saidarticles in a held position between said two layers of material to saidpackage forming equipment.

10. A general mounting structure, including va nat table-like plate, apairv of crimping rollers disposed at one end of said plate with theiraxes substantially parallel to the plane of said plate, said rollershaving article recesses therein, means for feeding a layer of packagingmaterial lalong the surface of said plate over a path extendingintermediate said rollers, a pair of endless chain lmechanisms disposedadjacent one surface of said layer, commodity spacing elements mountedon said chain mechanisms, the commodity spacing elements of saidrespective chain mechanisms being mutually engageable at a point nearthe beginning of said path to form commodity receptacles, said chainmechanisms being operable to move said mutually engageable elementsalong the path of movement of said layer of packaging -material andconcomitantly with the movement thereof, said endless chain mechanisms.operating to disengage said elements at a point near said rollers,means for feeding another and complementary layer of packaging materialto said rollers, and means formoving said chain mechanisms and saidrollers in timed relationship to produce spaced package formations.

11. A packaging apparatus in accordance with claim 8 in which said lastmentioned means comprises a plurality of chain mechanisms havingcommodity spacing elements mounted thereon, and a stationary spacingdevice mounted between the elements of said respective chain mechanismsto form plural package formations.

12. Packaging apparatus comprising, packageforming equipment, articlepropelling mechanism having a plurality of article moving elements,means for moving a layer of packaging material adjacent said mechanismalong the path-of movement of said elements with articles supportedbysaid layer and acted upon by said elements to propel the same towardssaid equipment in spaced formation, and means for feeding another layerof material to said package-forming equipment to engage said articlesand transfer the same from said propelling mechanism to saidpackageforming equipment.

13. Packaging apparatus comprising, packageforming equipment, means forfeeding plural layers of packaging material to said equipment to formpackages, and a conveyor mechanism operable between said layers andhaving article spacing and propelling elements thereof movable along thesurface of one of said layers for spacing and propelling articlessupported on the surface of said layer.

14. In a system for feeding packaging material and commodity articles inspaced relation to a package-forming machine, means for feedingpackaging material to support a plurality of commodity articles, and aconveyor operable alongside said material to engage said articlesindependently of said material and propel the same in spacedrelationship concomitantLv with the movement of said material.

LEROY L. SALF'ISBERG..

